Jordmor is the Norwegian term for ‘birth mother.’ Breaking the word into its parts, jord (soil) and mor (mother) directly translates into ‘Earth-Mother’. I like the image that this conjures, of a body that is carried and borne by an entity that is both woman and land, the two inextricably mixed. The very existence of this word, I would argue, is telling of the ways a body longs for (or is expected to have) a connection to land.

In Slice of Life, Sourdough Mother, I contemplate this melding of body and earth through the process of leavening a sourdough with wild yeast. Slices in the pages allow for a zooming-in on bio-like imagery througout the book, as it unfolds in an exploration of filiation and the assumption of purity.